


Fluttering footsteps

by pastelserpent



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, Eventual Romance, F/M, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, Mutual Pining, Romance, Teen Romance, Yule Ball (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:35:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24789355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelserpent/pseuds/pastelserpent
Summary: The announcement of the Triwizard tournament had sent Beauxbatons into a hub of excited whispers, and it was these same excited whispers that had hummed on in the background as we travelled via carriage to Hogwarts. “did Viktor enter?” Fleur asked from beside me, her blonde hair had been curled to perfection, and unlike me, she actually seemed excited about the beginning of the tournament, “yes he did,” I murmured quietly, wringing my hands in my lap. It was bad enough that Durmstrang had stopped taking female students the year before we were set to go to secondary school, but this being the first time we would see each other again in several months, felt like an invasion on our relationship. We had a lot of time to make up, and this really wouldn’t allow for that to happen. “I'm sure he’ll be fine,” she attempted to assure me, the other students in our carriage smiled across at me – it was no secret how close me and Viktor were, as twins but as siblings in a wider sense too, we understood each other impeccably in every single way, and had a love for each other that no one could break. Though I dared them to try.*1st person perspective** hope you like it :))
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Reader
Kudos: 58





	Fluttering footsteps

The announcement of the Triwizard tournament had sent Beauxbatons into a hub of excited whispers, and it was these same excited whispers that had hummed on in the background as we travelled via carriage to Hogwarts. “did Viktor enter?” Fleur asked from beside me, her blonde hair had been curled to perfection, and unlike me, she actually seemed excited about the beginning of the tournament, “yes he did,” I murmured quietly, wringing my hands in my lap. 

It was bad enough that Durmstrang had stopped taking female students the year before we were set to go to secondary school, but this being the first time we would see each other again in several months, felt like an invasion on our relationship. We had a lot of time to make up, and this really wouldn’t allow for that to happen. “I'm sure he’ll be fine,” she attempted to assure me, the other students in our carriage smiled across at me – it was no secret how close me and Viktor were, as twins but as siblings in a wider sense too, we understood each other impeccably in every single way, and had a love for each other that no one could break. Though I dared them to try.

“he better be,” I muttered, smiling up at our friend – Layla – who laughed at my comment, the inside of the carriages was as ornate as the school crest, the seats were made of a crisp blue velvet with gold trim, and despite the carriages appearing small from the outside, they were actually very big inside, with a class of thirty fitting inside easily. Portraits and paintings littered the walls, and our luggage had been stored towards the back of the carriage, bag upon bag of blue and gold luggage tidied into one neat container. 

We had been preparing for the tournament for weeks, with students volunteering to support those who entered in any way possible, as well as practicing the entrance to the school, we had been primed and prepped before even leaving France to look as pristine as possible, and upon arriving outside of Hogwarts, before even leaving the carriages, we glanced over ourselves a final time, each helping someone else fix their uniform or hair.

“perfection,” Madame Maxine declared as we disembarked, and were guided to be stood outside two huge castle doors which we were told would lead into the hall where the Hogwarts students were already waiting for us. “ladies, begin,” she murmured, and with that the doors were flung open and we entered, each setting off our own small spell, attempting to ignore the gasps and wistful sighs as we were watched by the whole hall. 

Finishing, we each curtseyed slightly, sharing smiles, before moving over to one of the tables that had been left empty for us to sit at, Madame Maxine sat first, and then the rest of us followed her actions, I settled between Layla and Fleur, with one of the few boy students who had been permitted to come on the trip – Damien – settled opposite me, offering reassuring smiles and words. It was then that the doors burst open again, and in strolled the boys of Durmstrang, looking up I scoured the faces until I found Viktor’s, despite the cold demeanour all of the boys had put on, I knew that they were all probably laughing inside – and were too sweet, in my opinion, to really pull off being intimidating. 

Clearly many of my friends were thinking the same, as we all watched in amusement at how some of the Hogwarts students jumped as they finished their arrival, before taking a seat at the table just down from us. Adjusting my blue silk skirt, my eyes followed the Durmstrang boys to their table, and offered a smile to my brother, and then to several of his friends – who I had been on more than awkward date with – which had thankfully been forgotten as we had become friends and sworn never to repeat the experience. 

Small mercies. 

The headmaster of Hogwarts then set about declaring the Triwizard champions, Fleur was announced first, to a large round of applause, we all clapped loudly for her, watching as she rose with grace and approached the headmaster, before disappearing behind a curtain. Next was the Hogwarts champion, and then the most important – in my opinion at least – the Durmstrang champion. Layla and Damien each took one of my hands and clutched them tightly as we waited for the name to be announced.

“Viktor Krum,” a flurry of claps erupted from the Durmstrang table, and Viktor was clearly delighted, his friends clapped and cheered loudly for him, slapping him on the back as he made his way towards the headmaster. He glanced over to our a table, and I gave him a smile, waiting for him to disappear before muttering, “stupid fool,” Layla glanced over at me to offer a reassuring smile, “he’s Viktor Krum, he’ll be fine,” I shrugged, about to reply to her when a fourth champion was named. 

Sending the room into a stunned silence, “no way,” Damien murmured, reaching for my hand again, “that’s never happened,” Layla gasped from beside me, “and so it begins,” I muttered dryly, glad when the ceremony was at long last over, and I could instead turn to look at the food in front of me.

Fleur had retaken her seat next to me and had filled us all in on what they had been told so far, “he’s going to compete, that Potter boy, is going to compete!” the news of this had filled the hall, and meant most eyes were on the Gryffindor table – as we had been told – but I couldn’t have given less of a toss about that fact. My eyes were instead trained on the Durmstrang boys, “apparently we are all going to need dates for the ball,” Layla added, watching as Kasper slid in beside Damien and joined the conversation. 

“we will,” he nodded along, glancing to me and then across to the Durmstrang table, “which Durmstrang are you taking, y/n?” he teased, I rolled my eyes, allowing a smile to creep onto my face, “none of them. Don’t you remember the last date?” Fleur giggled from beside me, while Damien snorted, not even attempting to cover his laugh, “exactly, I’ve had my share of Durmstrang boys to last me a lifetime,” Fleur rolled her eyes from beside me good-naturedly, “when you marry one, I expect to be wearing a red dress.”

I scoffed, lifting the glass to my lips, surveying the room, and noticing how the one table that hadn’t been staring at us curiously, was on the far side of the room. “who are they?” I asked Layla – whose siblings had attended Hogwarts, and so was better informed than the rest of us – “that is the Slytherin table,” she explained, “their house colours are green and silver, the animal is a snake, and supposedly the house of death eaters,” she shrugged, “I think it depends what you believe, but my brother said they are very intelligent, and could beat even Ravenclaws, not to mention they are very talented in duels.” 

I nodded slowly, turning back to my glass of water and sipped it down, “the boys are also very good looking,” Kasper and Damien shared a look, before turning to me, Damien extracting the glass from my hand, while Kasper fixed me with a level look, “oh no,” I shook my head rapidly, “you aren’t setting me up with one of them,” they shared another look, followed by a small nod, “you could do a lot worse, and if you aren’t going to go with a Durmstrang that only leaves the boys of Beauxbatons – who are few, or Hogwarts – Layla said Hufflepuffs are the weakest, so you aren’t going with one of them.”

Kasper began, allowing Damien to finish the point, “and that table is a whole table of good looking,” I sighed glancing between Layla and Fleur who shrugged, “what’s the worst that could happen?”

………

“the worst that could happen, is this,” I grumbled as we walked along one of the paths of Hogwarts out towards the quidditch pitch. It was a weekend, and all students had been invited to watch a quidditch match, we were significantly earlier than everyone else – having had to walk from our carriages, and were dressed in the light blue school hoodie, with the initials of the school embroidered in gold along with blue jeans – because even the most beautiful of French attire, wasn’t as comfortable as a pair of jeans when sitting on a bench for a couple of hours. 

“someone is already practicing,” Layla murmured from beside me, pointing to the sky as we approached the pitch, where indeed someone was already practicing, green and silver robes filled our vision as we took one of the stands that had been reserved – and obviously expanded – for Durmstrang and Beauxbaton students. “he’s a Slytherin,” Fleur squealed from beside me, all but pushing me towards the railings of the viewing platform, while her and Layla took up three seats between them, 

“what am I doing exactly?” I hissed to them, watching as he did several laps of the field, before going to the ground and dismounting, “that’s who you need to go with!” Fleur stated, I groaned glancing around the stands praying someone would save me. “she needs to go with who?” Viktor and several of his friends appeared, and I hurriedly turned to face him, “they are trying to set me up with a Slytherin student,” Vlad – Viktor’s best friend snorted quietly, “why would you go with one of them? when you could have a piece of Durmstrang,” I laughed quietly, walking up to him, and flicking him on the head, 

“because I have to put up with you,” he rolled his eyes, pulling me into a back hug – which for us was not uncommon behaviour. Viktor glanced at the student who had dismounted from his broom, and gone to meet his team, his blonde hair shining under the sun, “that house is obsessed with finding out everything about us,” he stated, and his friends nodded in agreement, 

“by all means go with one of them, but don’t tell them you are a Krum, otherwise you are going to have to put up with all of their advances for autographs and news headlines.” Fleur glanced between me and Vlad – who still had his arms wrapped around my shoulder – cocking her head to the side, “Vladimir, shouldn’t she go with a Slytherin?” he shrugged, dropping his arms from my shoulders, allowing me to take my seat next to Fleur, while Viktor and then Vlad slid in beside us.

“she should do what makes her happy,” Vlad stated, offering a quick smile before turning to watch the pitch, while Viktor nodded from beside me. The first task had already been completed, leaving just the second and third tasks. The second task had already begun – with both Viktor and Fleur having been given huge – screeching – golden eggs, which we had all threatened to obliviate if it didn’t stop. 

“Gabrielle has been requested to see the headmaster in his office,” Fleur stated after a moment, not looking my way, I nodded, “I have to too, I’ll take her, I don’t want her coming to any harm,” Fleur gave me a smile, “what would I do without you?” after the match had concluded, I found Gabrielle, and allowed her to slip her hand into mine as we walked towards the headmaster’s office, “why are we going?” she asked in French, and I shrugged helplessly, “I don’t honestly know,” we entered the office to find two other people waiting alongside the headmaster, a girl in blue, and a boy in red, not long after arriving I blacked out…

My eyes shuddered open; I was underwater. 

I was underwater, I hated water. 

Huge vast creatures surrounded me and three others, my immediate thought was Gabrielle, her small body had taken being knocked out the worst, and she was still unconscious, but I couldn’t move, I couldn’t have screamed, even if I wanted to. And I really wanted to. It wasn’t until I felt firm arms around me, that my mind silenced itself, being pulled towards the surface, and then finally reaching the surface, I choked and spluttered, relieved to see that Potter had gone back for Gabrielle, who was wrapped in Fleur’s arms. 

Vlad was on the platform, and reached for me, pulling me out of the water, while Viktor scrambled after me, still spluttering, with the addition of being freezing cold, Vlad wrapped a towel around me, murmuring various spells to ease the tension in my muscles. Gabrielle and Fleur were beside us in an instant, Gabrielle still clutching Fleur – who was visibly checking me and Viktor over. “that was horrible,” I whimpered as Viktor kept me pressed to his chest, “what even was the task?” I asked quietly as Viktor murmured quiet encouragement to me to slow down my heartbeat, “what the champion would miss most,” Vlad filled in from the side as the winner was announced.

Still shaking, Viktor gently passed me to Vlad, who sat down, pulling me onto his lap, rocking me backwards and forwards – Viktor’s older sibling instinct had clicked on, and so had Fleur’s, releasing Gabrielle to me, Gabrielle climbed onto my lap, and I hugged her tightly, as Vlad kept the pair of us rocking rhythmically. “whose stupid idea was it to try and kill our siblings?” Fleur spat angrily, her French accent peaking as her voice audibly rose, 

Viktor was beside her in an instant as they stalked angrily towards where the headmasters and headmistress were sat, “he’ll sort it,” Vlad assured me, his eyes following them, and then switching over to the students, and eventually to the Slytherin booth. “that boy is watching us, I think he thinks we are dating,” he murmured, my eyes followed his, settling on the blonde haired boy who had been on the quidditch pitch when we had arrived early the day before. “I don’t care,” I muttered, grateful for Vlad’s constant talk.

“who are you going to the yule ball with, y/n? I never got to ask you,” I shook my head, “all the boys approach us, and then run, they would never have been accepted into Durmstrang being so weak willed,” Vlad laughed heartily, noting the sibling’s return before I did. Gabrielle was swooped immediately into Viktor’s arms, and Fleur walked over to me, ignoring Vlad – who I was using as a chair – hugging me tightly instead, 

“thank Merlin you are both ok,” she murmured, not giving Vlad a second look as she continued to hug me. “we still need to get you a dress,” I nodded reluctantly, lightly slapping Vlad who laughed at the mention of a dress – knowing full well Fleur wouldn’t let me out of the shop until I had the perfect dress. “let’s just go back to the carriages, I left Fluffy, and I don’t think Gabrielle will take too kindly to me neglecting her puppy,” I slid off Vlad’s lap, and instead looped arms with Viktor, watching as Vlad walked beside Fleur with Gabrielle. 

……

Hogsmeade was packed, and I still had no date. Fleur walked beside me, with the addition of Layla, Damien and Kasper – Gabrielle had been safely returned to the carriages to be looked after by one of the house-mums who had come with us, alongside Fluffy – her spoilt puppy. We instead roamed the streets of Hogsmeade, looking for accessories, somehow all of our dresses had been sent along without us knowing, and all that was left was to buy bracelets and hair pieces, which was easier said than done considering we couldn’t move down the street without crashing into someone. 

I was glad that as it was the weekend, we were able to wear what we wanted, and I had pulled on black heeled boots, with a red chord skirt, and a fur trimmed black coat, a black bag had been slung over my shoulder, and I was still thinking about what I was going to do for a date. Viktor had already bagged a date – which wouldn’t have been too difficult with the number of fan girls he had – even Vlad – Mr no-way-would-I-date – had managed to bag a date.   
I was seriously behind schedule.

Wringing my leather glove covered hands, I sighed to myself, I needed to think of something, and fast. Not looking where I was going proved to be an issue, as I accidently slammed into someone, “I'm so sorry,” I hurriedly apologised, staring in shock as I had crashed into the blonde boy who I had seen several times around Hogwarts. “no problem,” he offered a small smile, and I hurried to smile back, “you’re y/n, right? Do you have a date for the ball?” I shook my head, glancing anxiously towards my friends – who were all silently cheering and screaming behind the boy – “no, no, I don’t,” he smiled again, 

“well, I’m Draco, Draco Malfoy, and I would be honoured to escort you to the ball,” I glanced anxiously to my friends, and with their encouragement, nodded, “that would be lovely Draco,” he smiled, “I'm very happy in that case, I’ll see you then,” smiling once more, he disappeared into the crowd, and Fleur re-joined my side. “so, you finally have a date!!!” the other three cheered, startling several people around us, “I guess I do,” I mumbled, a light blush tinting my cheeks, “but I don’t know who the Malfoy family are,” Kasper tutted from beside me, producing a book on magical families.

We walked into a café, ordering butterbeer – not that any of us knew what it was – and settled at a table in the corner, Kasper flicked to a page, before pushing the book over to me. “the Malfoy family,” Damien read over my shoulder, briefly skimming the page for information, “he should be easy enough,” he murmured as I slid the book back to Kasper, “we’ll have to wait and see,” Layla smiled knowingly as our drinks arrived.

….

The evening of the ball had arrived, and I found myself sat in the room that I shared with Layla and Fleur in our carriage, anxiously wringing my hands. “you look beautiful” Fleur murmured from where she was sat fixing her eyeshadow, “so do you,” – and she honestly did, the pale cream dress looked stunning, while she had gone with subtle, I had gone for a far more bold ensemble. I had chosen a crimson red dress – matching that of the Durmstrang’s uniform – alongside a necklace of cream pearls, I sighed anxiously, twiddling my fingers, 

Vlad had promised if I didn’t like my date, he would give me an excuse, and then I would stay with one of Viktor’s other friends – who hadn’t bothered with dates – which was starting to sound like a more sensible idea by the minute, but I only wanted to use that if it was too dire for me to cope. “it’s going to be ok,” I repeated to myself as I slipped on my heels, and then walked with the rest of our friends to the hall, all of the Hogwarts and Durmstrang students had already arrived, Viktor gave me a smile, and Vlad nodded to me, gesturing to where my date was patiently waiting.

“I was beginning to think you were unwell or had skipped,” Draco stated, sidling up beside me, offering me his arm, Fleur had already disappeared off, as had Layla, so I slipped my arm through his, allowing him to guide us to the edge of the collective school group – who were waiting to be addressed by the Hogwarts headmaster. When the ball officially began, I watched alongside the rest of the students, as the champions danced first, Viktor and Fleur made it look effortless with their partners – even Cedric looked faultless – Potter, not so much, “oh merlin,” I muttered wincing as Potter flailed yet again, “he’s not much of a dancer,” Draco informed me, 

“I can see that much,” I muttered, Draco turned to me, offering a brief smile, as everyone else was invited to join. “I hope you know how to dance,” I muttered as he guided me onto the floor, spinning with ease past the other couples, “this show you that I can?” I nodded, offering a small smile, “I was told that Malfoys are very rhythmically gifted,” he shrugged modestly. “I was told that Krums are also very talented,” I didn’t ask how he knew my surname – it wouldn’t have been hard to find out, especially not when Rita Skeeter had made a whole six columns about Viktor rescuing me in the second task.

“I don’t know about that,” I mumbled quietly as we brushed past Viktor and then Vlad in quick succession, Vlad offered me a quick smile, which I returned, before turning back to Draco, “he’s worried I'm going to hurt you, isn’t he?” he asked quietly, there was no judgement in his voice, “he’s known me a long time, he’s very protective,” I replied, grateful when the song had come to the end. “not jealous?” Draco asked, I shook my head immediately, as we changed formation for the next song, “no, not jealous, we aren’t like that,” he clearly wasn’t convinced, but didn’t say any more on the matter. Eventually the ball came to an end, and I hadn’t used my escape route. 

“thank you for agreeing to come with me,” Draco stated as other couples began to disperse, “you look absolutely beautiful,” I felt my cheeks tint pink, and instead glanced down at the floor, “no thank you, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to find a date,” he scoffed quietly, “but you are the most beautiful person here,” I shrugged, “there are lots of very beautiful girls here.”

He shook his head immediately, “none as beautiful as you,” I smiled up at him, “I'm glad you came with me,” the hall had all but emptied out of people, and he guided us back onto the dance floor, casting a charm on the instruments to play a piece of music. “one final dance?” I nodded, allowing him to spin me, and sway in time to the music, “my brother will hate you for this,” he shrugged letting out a chuckle, “well he got the Gryffindor princess, I got the quidditch royalty,” I giggled slightly before fixing him with a level stare, “I better not be leverage for you,” he shook his head immediately, “never, I just meant that I got the best person at the ball,” I nodded slowly, relaxing back into dancing with him. 

“you better write to me when I go back to Beauxbatons,” he laughed quietly, bowing down in front of me, “only if you promise to reply,” I nodded curtseying to him, “I promise I’ll reply.” He smiled down at me, pressing a kiss to my cheek, “good,” we walked in silence to the edge of the building, and I waved to him, before slipping down to the carriages and into my room, “I told you it would be worth coming,” Fleur told me, smiling smugly, I laughed quietly nodding, “it was worth it.”

……

The third task ended tragically. There was no two ways about it, and it made me that much more grateful for when at the end of the task, I was able to fling myself into Viktor’s arms, hugging him tightly, “I love you so much bro,” he hugged me tightly to his chest, opening his arm to Vlad, Fleur and Gabrielle, “I love you too.” Together in our little group, we were joined by the rest of our friends, until we were in one huge group, in one huge hug of support and mutual love for each other. 

“and don’t think I didn’t hear about you and that Slytherin,” he whispered in my ear, glancing across to where the Slytherin students were huddled, their demeanours each respectfully downtrodden, “he’s not so bad,” I remarked nonchalantly, noticing how Vlad had appeared on my other side, “yeah,” he murmured sarcastically, a smirk etched across his face as his eyes flicked over to the boy in question, “not so bad.”

As Beauxbatons and Durmstrang prepared to head off home, dressed in our uniforms, I found Draco watching from a distance, and walked up to him, “write to me,” he nodded dutifully, “reply,” I nodded, taking a breath, before walking towards him, and pulling him into a hug, “stay safe,” he pressed a final kiss to my cheek, before I hurried off to my carriage, and settled between Layla and Fleur. From our window, we waved to the various students from both schools, before leaning back, “same time next year?” Kasper joked, stretching back in his seat, “maybe,” I murmured, a small smile appearing on my lips.

**Author's Note:**

> hey! 2 posts in 2 days!?! I'm getting better! Anyways, I really hope you liked this, I had fun writing it. I might do more Draco Malfoy writings. Again suggestions are open - feel free to leave a comment, maybe hit that subscribe button too? *you don't have to, but it's much appreciated :) I'll see you on the next piece! :)


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